If I Die Before I Wake: The Flu Epidemic Diary of Fiona Macgregor. (Dear Canada). Jean Little. Toronto, ON: Scholastic Canada, 2007. 243 pp., hardcover, $14.99. ISBN 978-0-439-98837-7. Subject Headings: Influenza Epidemic, 1918-1919-Canada-Juvenile fiction. World War, 1914-1918-Canada-Juvenile fiction. Diary fiction. Grades 6-9 / Ages 11-14. Review by Beth Wilcox. ***½ /4

excerpt:

The doctor told us he thought Fanny was nearing the crisis. "It might be tonight," he said. "Once their faces . . ."

He did not finish but it was bad news, I could tell. Her face had turned a greyish colour. He sounded so like the doctor in Little Women, but this is not just a story.

Jane, I sit here in Fanny's room. I can hardly bear to look at her. She is grey and her breath rasps and gurgles and wheezes. She has lost pounds. Her face is all hollow and a dark colour. A bluish grey. That is one of the symptoms of this Flu, Aunt said. Nobody is saying the word but we all know. So many have died, but not my Fan. I will not leave her whatever anyone says. I am giving her some of my strength. I can't make them understand, Jane, but I must stay or she might leave me. I vow, here and now, that I will not let her go.

One of Jean Little's contributions to Scholastic's "Dear Canada" series, If I Die Before I Wake tells the story of the Spanish Flu epidemic from the perspective of 12-year-old Fiona Macgregor in Toronto. While the Great War is being fought overseas, people in Toronto are also facing another enemy: the Spanish Influenza. Following the format of the "Dear Canada" series, the novel is a fictional dairy of a young girl who experiences the historic moment first-hand. In this case, Fiona details her daily life though a series of diary entries she addresses to her imaginary unborn daughter, "Jane." The diary entries begin on Fiona's 12th birthday on August 3, 1918, when she gets a new diary as a gift. Fiona begins by describing her life, family, and the impact of World War I on her society. Fiona is a likable and believable narrator. She is concerned about the war and the start of flu epidemic; however, like a normal child, she also thinks about more immediate subjects, such as her chores, her conflicts with her grandmother, her new puppy, and her curiosity regarding a family secret.

      While not the primary subject of this novel, World War I is prominent in the story, and it naturally affects Fiona's life in many ways. Fiona's father is unable to fight because he was injured in the Boer War, but some of her elder sister's friends are casualties of the war. As Fiona matures and begins volunteering at a hospital for wounded soldiers, her understanding of the war's effect on Canadian society becomes clearer.

      The reader experiences the start and peak of the Spanish flu outbreak in Toronto through Fiona's writing. First, Fiona's schoolmate is one of Toronto's initial flu fatalities. Then, as the epidemic spreads, Fiona's twin sister, Fanny, becomes sick and almost dies. Finally, as the epidemic peaks and begins to lessen, Fiona's sister, Jemma, becomes fatally ill after hugging and kissing strangers in the streets on Armistice Day. As Little notes, many Canadians in Toronto and elsewhere caught the Spanish Flu while celebrating this momentous day.

      Little's book is well-researched and vivid, not only in its description of the Spanish Influenza, but also as a portrait of middle-class Torontonians in 1918. While the historical focus is on the flu epidemic, Little recreates a time of great change in Canadian history from the personalized perspective of Fiona. For instance, Fiona considers the woman's suffrage movement as her elder sister begins medical school. The time period is brought to life for the reader in the descriptions of social attitudes and customs of the time which are authentically woven into Fiona's diary entries. The supporting nonfiction and primary material included as an appendix (such as a copy of the Eaton's catalogue showing a Velocipede similar to the one Fiona's little brother rode, and the rules for the Macgregors' version of the card game "Pounce") only increase the reader's overall feelings of verisimilitude.

      Aesthetically, this book follows the format of the rest of the "Dear Canada" series, with its thick paper, ribbon bookmark and diary format. The book also includes an historical note, giving readers a background on the Spanish flu and exploring the concept of pandemic. Copies of historical documents and photographs are also included in the appendix to reinforce that this fictional story is about a real time and place.

Highly Recommended.

Beth Wilcox is a teacher in Ottawa, ON, and a Master of Arts in Children's Literature graduate from the University of British Columbia.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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